1998 Bristol 4th of July Celebration Report

Before the 1998 report, it is my pleasure to congratuate native Bristolian and fellow Bristol historian LOU CIRILLO on his appointment as CHIEF MARSHAL of the 2013 celebration. A very well deserved honor.

1998 Committee Business

Chairmn Richard Luiz called the first full meeting of the 1998 Committee to order. The first order of business was the report of Treasurer Donna Falcoa.

BAL: 08/30/97

Deposits

Withdrawals

BAL: 09/30/97

$62,606.80

$31,397.50

$16,637.80

$79,366.50

 The treasurer distributed copies of the proposed 1998 budget. Several motions were made from Subcommittee members that the budgeted amounts allotted to their Subcommittees be increased:

            to purchase five new radios and batteries needed for the old radios;

            to increase the Patriotic Exercises budget to $600.00;

            to increase the Enlisted Picnic budget to $1,000.00;

            to increase the budget for bands’ housing from $7,500 to $9,000.00.

The proposed budget was accepted unanimously.

 The first order of business at the December 2, meeting of the general Committee was the treasurer’s report.

BAL: 10/31/97

Deposits

Withdrawals

BAL: 11/30/97

$91,174.44

$18,193.02

$5,721.71

$103,645.75

 Souvenir Trailer
A motion was made and passed unanimously that $3,000 be appropriated for the purchase of a trailer from which to sell souvenirs. Arrangements were made with the Town to store the trailer at the department of public works garage and to register the trailer with the town.

 Beginning in June
The silly season for Bristol’s police dispatchers begins early in June. Calls come into the Bristol Police Department from out-of-state folks wondering when the Fourth of July parade will be held. The calls come from local residents asking how many people will march in the parade this year. Calls come in from others across the state and across the country, inquiring where the hotels and the good restaurants are located

Over the next four weeks, until parade day, according to some estimates police dispatchers will field about 2,500 Fourth of July-related calls.

It was July 3, traditionally one of the busiest nights of the police year. Thousands of people were downtown, enjoying the patriotic fervor¾not to mention the fine malt beverages¾found at Bristol’s restaurants and watering holes. If the hordes of people downtown weren’t bad enough for police dispatchers, there was something even worse¾it started to rain.

 Chief Marshal John R. Partington
Chairman Luiz introduced John Partington, a fifty-year member of the Fourth of July Committee, to his fellow members as the 1998 Chief Marshal at the April 29, meeting.

Being selected the 1998 Chief Marshal was for the retired Bristol math teacher, tennis coach and World War II bomber navigator a dream come true. Secretly, he confessed, he’s dreamed it for years, every year speculating¾as others have done in other years¾whether this was his year.

Partington said keeping his selection as Chief Marshal a secret until the official April 29, announcement was a difficult task. In the weeks after the announcement, his life and that of his wife, Muriel, were thrown into an upheaval.

The Chief Marshal is the Fourth of July Committee’s official representative at every town function related to the celebration. That means that he is always on call, day and night, to attend Fourth of July functions. He attends pageants, derbies, soccer tournaments, balls, concerts, dinners, and fund-raisers.

 Being retired made things a little bit easier for him to give the required time to all the activities. “I don’t know,” he said, “how Chief Marshals who are still working are able to get everything done and still satisfy their employers.”

“I’m overwhelmed, that’s for sure,” said Partington, “it makes you feel good to be recognized.”

Partington held his reception under a large tent on Linden Place’s east lawn. Over a 1000 guests waited in the line to sign the guest book, congratulate Partington, and shake his hand. Several 12-foot diameter tables groaned under the weight of a cornucopia of gourmet meats, cheeses, seasonal fruit, and large sterling bowls of iced jumbo shrimp. The bar-tables on the parameters of the tent served three-or-four traditional wines, beer, and soft drinks.

Later, Partington said he was so busy shaking hands and chatting with friends and admirers during the two-hour affair that he hardly had a chance to taste the wine or eat a shrimp.

 At the Exercises 
After the usual presentation of officials and plaques, the patriotic speaker for the 1998 exercises, Captain Jerome (Jerry) M. Donovan, USA (ret), took the podium. A 1938 Colt Memorial School graduate and recipient of the Purple Heart for wounds received during World War II, the proud Bristol native loudly greeted all with, “Good Morning America!”

Donovan recited the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, word for word, from memory. He said he read the declaration as a high school senior, during the 1938 patriotic exercises.

 “Have you ever read the Declaration?” he asked of the audience, before anyone could respond, Donovan threw out some facts: “its reading time is only 10 minutes and it has 1,321 words. They are powerful words, if you haven’t read it, please do.”

Donovan was at no loss of words when describing the meaning of Bristol’s world-renowned parade. “This parade is the glue of our democratic lives, adhering our generation to the next. We’re a town of diversity.”

The 77-year-old veteran concluded his speech with a touching ending, “We are so many today, that we are one. We are all American and for some of us, the greatest pride is that we are Bristolian.”

 A Four-Hour Spectacle 
The ceremonial start of Bristol’s annual extravaganza rocketed off with a canon blast and the roar overhead of a pair of F-15 fighter jets as the Mt. Hope High School band struck up the national anthem and the town crier swung his ceremonial bell at the corner of Hope and Chestnut Streets.

Tens of thousands of flag-waving and flamboyant spectators packed the 2.6-mile route, crowding every inch of sidewalk and lawn space to catch a glimpse of the color and pomp for which Bristol’s patriotic parade is famous.

With the blazing sun sending temperatures into the mid-80s, Bristol fire and rescue personnel were busy with 30 calls for heat exhaustion and other minor medical emergencies. Police reported only a few arrests for minor incidents during the parade.

 Law and Order on the Fourth 
As anyone who has been to Bristol on the Fourth of July knows, traffic is an operative word. The police have many more responsibilities than just looking for criminals or patrolling for illegal alcohol consumption.

In many ways, the police must literally keep the Fourth of July moving. One of their primary tasks is directing traffic. With thousands of additional automobiles pouring into Bristol’s two major arteries and narrow side streets, the police must essentially create order out of chaos.

Bristol Police Lieutenant Robert Karsch, who coordinated all police efforts on this particular celebration weekend, said they would sometimes provide an escort to a parade participant trapped bumper to bumper far from the parade route. Police will keep side streets and driveways clear for moving traffic. They will shepherd parade marchers from their finish line on High Street back to their busses on Chestnut Street, and they will turn everything around and direct motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, skaters, etc, out of Bristol, when tempers and emotions get out of control.

Another great challenge is people. Officers enforce the rules about no bicycles, skateboards, or in-line slates on the parade route, as well as no silly string, no poppers and no open containers of alcohol. All of the rules are designed to keep order where there is ample room for disorder and danger. The alcohol law¾prohibiting open containers of alcohol anywhere on the parade route¾has had a greater impact on the celebration in the past decade than has anything else, said Karsch.

Another forgotten responsibility is patrolling the rest of town. With everyone jammed into the downtown district, roughly 90 percent of Bristol is abandoned. However, not only do the police continue their normal patrols throughout town, but also they actually double them.

The town of Bristol has accepted its role as the State of Rhode Island’s official Fourth of July guardian and each year appropriates money specifically for police protection. The appropriation for police manpower for July 3, and 4, 1998, was about $35,000.

 Committee Wrap-up Concerns.
Frances O’Donnell brought forward an issue of concern to the parade Subcommittee. One candidate who had been told that candidates for political office were not allowed to participate outlined his concerns in a letter to the Committee. He saw on television other candidates for public office who did participate on the parade. O’Donnell mentioned that this has always been a problem, since candidates find organizations that will allow them to march within their ranks. She suggested that a letter be sent to Joe Moniz and the Don Luiz Filipe Society reminding the society of the Committee’s rules and regulations and asking that they cooperate in the future.

BAL: 06/30/98

Deposits

Withdrawals

BAL: 07/31/98

$148,606.36

$73,026.04

 $128,795.65

 $92,836.75